I saw my first big league game in St. Louis in 1963, saw Mr. Musial play, so I was instantly a Cardinals fan. Cincy was closer to where I lived in Ky, but I later figure out Dad was a Cardinals fan probably because his father was and that all goes back to the Cards farm system in Gas House Gang days... people would see these minor leaguer's play, then root for the as they made it to the big leagues.
In little league I'm wearing #6, I was left handed, a bit scared of the ball at the plate at first, and standing in my dirt spot in center (remember how kids would stand in one spot and we'd kill a patch of grass?). So in 1964 I go to several games... The Cards trade for Lou, and I'm laying in the floor at home listening through the static to Harry Carey and Jack Buck tell me about the games. Brock is key to the success. (He ran more in later years, but not so much in 1964.) 1964 was magic. Dad and a friend had each gotten 2 tickets to games 1,2,6, and 7 of the World Series, having had to send money in long before the season's end. So I'm hoping they're in... and they were. So then I'm pestering Dad about going to a game. Game 1, no, he's taking other people. Game 2, no, same thing... will there be a game 6 or 7, my little 9 year old brain was concerned... When the Series comes back to St. Louis do I get to go to game 6, no. other people go... but I'm told if there's a game 7 I can get outa school and go... So I go to game 7! Tons of memories, and some mental blanks because I'm not paying the attention I'd now have. I remember Brock hit a home run, as did Mickey Mantle, his last WS HR. And the Boyer brothers homered... Ken for the Cards, and his brother Clete for the Yankees. And Mr. Gibson held on to win that game, 7-5. Tim McCarver stole home???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGpSJKvdFEs Doesn't Mike Shannon show his college football skills on the slide into second? And hundreds of fans poured onto the field from all directions.
So from there on, when picking a number to wear, you'd find me in 20....
I saw him play in about 110 games. I was there for his 3000th hit. Both Brock and Yaz were closing in on 3000 at about the same time. Lou kept hitting and got there first. Yastrzemski (yes, I can spell it, but as a kid I couldn't) went into a slump and struggled along... good for ticket sales and there was no doubt he'd get there, a great ballplayer. That 3000 hit ticket has an A on it where the date line was... the Cards had printed extra paper tickets that could be used for those 3000 hit crowds. My recollection is he hot 2 hits at Wrigley Field on Saturday, 2995 and 2996. 2 more hits on Sunday, 2997 and 2998. And then the Cards returned home. Lou then got 2 hits Monday night against the Cubs. I'm there for batting practice, the park has an electric atmosphere, it was similar to the energy in at the end of the season when playoff possibilities exist. And I'm scared... there's no Lou Brock out there for BP. Keith Hernandez is in left field. What the hell, is Brock taking the night off and Hernandez gonna be in left? Of course not. But then I have no recollection of ever hearing about Hernandez shagging flies or practicing throws from the outfield ever before. So I'm worried.
I believed in Lou Brock so much that about 3 weeks into the 1979 season I made a bet with a Reds fan friend of mine that Lou would hit .300 that season. We bet a case of beer. That was 41 years ago, that friend mentioned losing that bet a few weeks ago.
For the millennial attention spans, you need read no further.
Gibson and Brock are brilliant stars for the 1964 team... faded to being almost fogotten is how adept Dick Groat was at fielding, pivoting, and the hit and run... seriously, he could see a fielder break on a hit and run, and he'd slap the ball through this big wide hole in a way that the only person who could field it was an outfielder. He was a great athlete, I think he lettered in a zillion things in college. I think he went to Duke. Mike Shannon, he was in right field, still learning to play at the major league level. Fans loved him, he had played football at Missouri. The Cards later moved him to 3rd base and Shannon is learning that position, to make room for Roger Maris in the outfield for 1967 and 1968. Tim McCarver, solid... great in the clutch. Smart. Julian Javier, Stan's Dad for you youngsters. He was sure handed, calm, steady. Curt Flood... Fleet afoot, great fielder, good arm, dependable hitter.... Ray Sadecki won 20 games, lefthander Curt Simmons with that right leg folding back before he strode forward to pitch, Ray Washburn, Roger Craig, Barny Schultz, and Dr. Ron Taylor... And those corners... Bill White at first, Ken Boyer at third. Those were strong men, tough, great RBI men.
One more thing... I saw Mike Shannon catch. Behind the plate. Most of the Cardinals games I saw with Dad were on Sundays. I'm grateful for them all. Thanks Dad! So on a Sunday in August of 1965, the Giants were in St. Louis. Curt Simmons took the mound for the Cards, and some old man pitched for the Giants. Warren Spahn... some old lefthander that won a few games for the Braves. McCarver wasn't in the lineup, he'd gotten hurt a few days before. Bob Uecker is catching. I remember seeing him playing a tuba before a game with an ummpah band before a Cards game during the pennant race in 1964, someone tossed him a baseball and he caught it in the horn. Anyway, Uecker gets hurt early in the game. Schoendienst comes out and motions Shannon in, they put catcher's gear on him, and let him take a few pitches... there's a wave of concern in that old ballpark. Shannon catches!!! I saw 5 eventual Hall of Famers play that day, Mays, McCovey and Spahn for the Giants... and Brock and Gibson for the Cardinals. (Gibson didn't pitch, he pinch hit a double and drove in a run on his off day; he was a fierce competitor.) St. Louis lost that day... In hindsight that was the only time I saw Warren Spahn pitch. And I'm glad I did. He won 363 games. 302 of them back when the season was only 154 games long. Has to be among the greatest left handed pitchers ever. 1965 was his last year, he won 4 games with the Mets during the first half of 1965, then he signed with the Giants and he won 3 more games (I had to look that up)... I don't know when his last win was, maybe I saw it. Warren Spahn missed 3 major league seasons while serving in the Army during WWII. He was a combat engineer, saw action, was wounded and received the Purple Heart, and as a Staff Sergeant he received a battlefield commission to 2nd Lieutenant. He fought at the bridge at Remagen and was in the Battle of the Bulge (movies were made about both actions). The word "Hero" gets thrown around to a lot of people these days. It wasn't that way when I was a kid. Mr. Spahn was a Hero by the old standards. Maybe the war experiences toughened him up so that he performed as well as he did as he won 363 games. Maybe he'd have attained 400+ wins had he pitched in the majors 3 more seasons. From what I've read, Mr. Spahn wasn't at all bitter about being in the Army instead of baseball those years.
Lou Brock... I wore my legs out trying to get that pop up slide figured out. I remember how I reacted to Joe Morgan getting on first base and how he'd drive my Cardinal teams crazy; and I remember how the entire dynamics of a game would change when Lou reached first. I can still see him slapping singles to left between 3rd and short, I can see the ball chopped down into the clay in front of the plate as Lou blazed down the first base line. And I can see that 3000th hit ricocheting off of Lamp's leg as Lou blazes to first base. Mr. Brock, I thank you for some of my happy, vivid memories. I wish your family well.